491 Cases of Salmonella Illness from Taste of Chicago

Jenny Albano

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The number of people reported being ill has increased to 491 after they ate at the Pars Cove Persian Cuisine booth at the Taste of Chicago festival. The source of the salmonella outbreak has been linked to a hummus dish called hummus shirazi which includes fresh herbs, tomato and cucumber salad on top of hummus. The numbers of salmonellosis have been increasing over the last week.

As a precaution, health officials have asked that Pars Cove restaurant stop serving their hummus dish to customers. The restaurant has been inspected by Heath Department Officials and samples of tahini, a main ingredient in hummus, were taken to examine. The tahini has had salmonella issues in the past.

Forty-four of the 491 are laboratory-confirmed cases of salmonellosis. Of the 44, 26 have been identified as one of the more common Salmonella stereotypes in the United States. A total of 15 people are known to have been hospitalized.

The Chicago Department of Public Health announced that this outbreak has been the first for the Taste of Chicago in over 20 years. The festival does inspect all the food at the booths to make sure they are at the correct temperature. But inspectors are unable to tell whether the food is contaminated.

The salmonella bacteria can cause flu-like symptoms including diarrhea, fever, dehydration, and abdominal cramps. Symptoms usually begin 12-72 hours after infection, and typically last 4-7 days.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Defective and Dangerous Products.